Water system
Cedarville University
EPA ID OH2903612 · Greene County · 4,000 people served
Cedarville University treats its own water from Groundwater wells (8 wells).
The system's record
- Active wells
- 8
- Serves
- 4,000 people · Greene County
- EPA ID
- OH2903612
About this area's water
Did you know
- The system serves roughly 4,000 people through only 49 service connections, because a single connection can serve an entire residence hall or academic building.
- In 2025 the plant treated 47.65 million gallons of water, averaging 130,656 gallons a day.
- The campus wells tap two different bedrock aquifers of the Sub-Lockport Group, one upper and one lower, rather than a single sand-and-gravel buried valley like most of western Ohio.
- One wellhead, PW-09, was physically raised four feet in 2025, partly to protect it and partly to clear the way for campus expansion east of State Route 72.
- Unlike a municipality, the water system holds no regular public meetings; the CCR invites comment by telephone to the Operations Center instead.
Source: cuwebstoragelibrary.blob.core.windows.netdata.epa.gov
History4
- 2004EPA SDWIS records Cedarville University wells 0008 and 0009 deactivated on September 10, 2004; a purchased connection from Greene County - Cedarville was deactivated July 1, 2005.
- 2025A 4-inch line serving the Apple Resource Center and Patterson Hall was cut during construction; the line was isolated, pressure was held in the rest of the distribution system, and a boil advisory…
- 2025Wells PW-09, PW-11 and PW-13 were rehabilitated (cleaning, new pumps and wiring); the PW-09 wellhead was raised four feet to protect the groundwater supply and accommodate planned campus expansion…
- 2025The system failed to collect a required third-quarter arsenic sample, a monitoring violation under Ohio EPA rules. A sample was collected November 11, 2025 and results were within standards; EPA…
Source: cuwebstoragelibrary.blob.core.windows.netdata.epa.govdata.epa.gov
Treatment & pressure
How it is treated
Cedarville University treats its own groundwater. Seven supply wells east and north of the intramural fields, east of State Route 72, draw from both the upper and lower bedrock aquifers of the Sub-Lockport Group, in the Till Plains section of the Central Lowlands. Raw water goes to a campus…
Source: cuwebstoragelibrary.blob.core.windows.netcedarville.edudata.epa.gov
Water pressure
Not published. Neither the university's public water system page nor its 2025 CCR states a system pressure; the CCR only notes that pressure was maintained in the rest of the…
Source: cuwebstoragelibrary.blob.core.windows.netcedarville.edu
What it costs
No rate schedule exists. This is a privately owned community system serving the university's own campus through 49 service connections; water is not billed to the public on a…
Source: data.epa.govcedarville.edu
Water quality & impurities10
| Contaminant | Level | Limit | Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total chlorine Disinfectant residual. | 1.74 (range… ppm | MRDL 4 | 2025 |
| Total trihalomethanes (TTHM) | 16 (range… ppb | MCL 80 | 2025 |
| Haloacetic acids (HAA5) | 3.7 (range… ppb | MCL 60 | 2025 |
| Arsenic The CCR table labels this row 'ppm', which is an apparent unit typo: the stated MCL of 10 is the ppb arsenic standard.… | 1 (range 0-1) ppb | MCL 10 | 2025 |
| Barium | 0.0328 ppm | MCL 2 | 2023 |
| Cyanide The CCR prints the range as '1-Jan', a spreadsheet date-conversion artifact of '1-1'. | 1 ppb | MCL 200 | 2023 |
| Fluoride | 0.3 ppm | MCL 4 | 2023 |
| Mercury | 0.2 ppb | MCL 2 | 2023 |
| Lead (90th percentile) 0 of 21 samples above the action level. | 3.39 ppb | Action level 15 | 2025 |
| Copper (90th percentile) 0 of 21 samples above the action level. | 0.2227 ppm | Action level 1.3 | 2025 |
Source: cuwebstoragelibrary.blob.core.windows.net
EPA compliance record
Lead at the tap: 90th-percentile result 3.4 ppb in 2025 (action level 15 ppb).
EPA record: no health-based violations since 2015.
3 violations of any kind logged since 2020: 1 for required testing that was missed or reported late; 2 for a report, record or notice that was missing, late or incomplete (the yearly water quality report, a public notice, lead line records).
Projects & plans10
Recent and current work
- Well PW-09 rehabilitation (cleaning, new pump and electrical wiring) · 2025 · completed
- Well PW-13 rehabilitation (cleaning, pump/wiring/piping reinstalled) · 2025 · completed
- Well PW-11 new pump and wiring after pump failure · 2025 · completed
- Replacement of flush valves and wellhead sample ports at PW-09 through PW-13 · 2025 · completed
- PW-09 wellhead raised four feet for contamination protection and planned campus expansion east of SR 72 · 2025 · completed
- Phase I conceptual site survey with hydrology, geology and treatment consultants, to guide wellfield planning · 2025 · completed
- Iron/manganese filtration upgrade (two new filters), pump house re-piping, new high-service pump, and a new… · completed
Described by the university as upgrades over the last ten years; no individual completion dates or costs are published.
Source: cuwebstoragelibrary.blob.core.windows.netcedarville.edu
Planned or needed
- Water tower cleaning and inspection · 2026 · planned
Scheduled for spring 2026. - Evaluation of additional elevated water storage · planned
Described as in the assessment phase, reviewing options and long-term needs. No cost or date published. - Future wellfield expansion and improved use of existing groundwater resources · proposed
To be guided by the completed Phase I conceptual site survey. No cost or schedule published.
Supply stress
The aquifer supplying the East Wellfield is rated by Ohio EPA as having moderate susceptibility to contamination, based on moderate aquifer sensitivity and nearby potential contaminant sources; a Wellhead Protection Plan is approved and in force. The forward pressure is capacity for growth rather than scarcity: the university completed a…
Sewers
Sanitary
Not published. The university's own NPDES wastewater permit (OH0085502) is listed as Terminated in EPA ECHO, and neither the CCR nor the operations page states who now handles campus wastewater. The Village of Cedarville operates the Cedarville Water Resource Reclamation Facility (NPDES OH0020010) nearby.
Storm
Not published.
Source: echodata.epa.govdata.epa.gov
Sourcesverified
Compiled from the utility's own reports and public records, then independently re-checked against primary sources.
Main supplier in 1 ZIP code
Serves
Main water supplier in 1 ZIP code
- 45314 · Cedarville56% of residents
Population-weighted resident shares; a ZIP code can have more than one system on record. Recomputed from each ZIP's own system list, not from the map's cached footprint.
Buys from · Sells to
Cedarville University does not buy water from another system on record; it treats its own source water.
No other system is on record buying water from Cedarville University.
What the records show about Cedarville University
Who runs it
EPA's record says Cedarville University has 49 service connections and serves 4,000 people.
EPA classes it as a community water system, one that serves the same residents all year.
EPA's record says it has substantially implemented source water protection under Ohio's program, dating the program from 2025. Its office telephone on EPA's record is 937-766-4114.
Source: EPA Safe Drinking Water Information System (SDWIS), water system record.
How the water is treated
EPA's treatment table registers these steps for Cedarville University: chlorine disinfection, ion-exchange softening, and sand or media filtration.
The list is what each system registered with EPA for treatment plants EPA still shows as active, and it can lag a plant upgrade.
Source: EPA Safe Drinking Water Information System (SDWIS) treatment table (EPA Envirofacts, pulled September 2026).
Violations
EPA's record shows no health-based violations for Cedarville University since 2015.
EPA logs 3 violations of any kind since 2020: 1 for required testing that was missed or reported late; 2 for a report, record or notice that was missing, late or incomplete (the yearly water quality report, a public notice, lead line records).
Source: EPA Safe Drinking Water Information System (SDWIS) violation records: health-based violations with compliance periods beginning in 2015 or later, all violations from 2020 or later (EPA Envirofacts, pulled September 2026).
Lead and copper at the tap
In the sampling period ending December 2025, the 90th-percentile lead result at Cedarville University was 3.4 ppb, under both the current 15 ppb action level and the 10 ppb level that applies from 2027.
The highest result on file is 5.6 ppb, in the period ending December 2023.
EPA has 5 sampling periods on file for Cedarville University since 2016, the first ending in 2017; no period was above 10 ppb.
Every water system has to inventory its service lines, the pipes from the main to each building. In the inventory Cedarville University sent EPA, 62 lines are counted.
| Material | Lines |
|---|---|
| Lead | 0 |
| Galvanized, needing replacement | 0 |
| Unknown material | 0 |
| Not lead | 62 |
| All lines | 62 |
Systems sample taps in the homes most likely to have lead pipes or solder. The 90th-percentile result is the level nine in ten of the sampled homes were at or below. Lead comes mostly from service lines and house plumbing, not the source water, so a low result for the system does not clear an old house.
EPA's dashboard status for this inventory: reported all required service line types.
Source: EPA Safe Drinking Water Information System (SDWIS) lead and copper 90th-percentile results (EPA Envirofacts), sampling periods ending 2016 or later; EPA's service line inventory dashboard, Ohio's 2026 Q2 submission.
PFAS
EPA's fifth national round of testing (UCMR 5) took 2 samples of the water entering the pipes of Cedarville University in 2025 and measured 29 PFAS. No PFAS was detected, PFOA and PFOS (federal limit 4 ng/L each) among them.
Ohio EPA's own statewide sampling tested 1 plant of Cedarville University (latest sample July 2020). Not one of the six PFAS tested (PFOA, PFOS, PFHxS, PFNA, GenX and PFBS) was detected.
PFAS are the 'forever chemicals' from firefighting foam, plating shops and non-stick coatings. Results are for water leaving the plant, not your tap.
Source: EPA UCMR 5 occurrence data (final release, August 2026); Ohio EPA statewide PFAS sampling, 2019 to 2021, and its sampling status map.
Disinfection byproducts
Chlorine that disinfects water also reacts with organic matter to form byproducts. Two groups have federal limits: total trihalomethanes (TTHM, 80 µg/L) and five haloacetic acids (HAA5, 60 µg/L), judged on running yearly averages at each sampling site.
For TTHM, the average of Cedarville University's samples in 2019, the last year it was sampled, was 20 µg/L. The worst yearly average was 38.6 µg/L and the highest single sample was 70.2 µg/L, from 14 samples taken from 2013 to 2019.
For HAA5, the average in the last year sampled was 0 µg/L. The worst yearly average was 10.4 µg/L and the highest single sample was 10.4 µg/L, from 14 samples.
| Byproduct | Limit | Latest yearly average | Worst yearly average | Highest sample | Samples |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| TTHM | 80 µg/L | 20 µg/L (2019) | 38.6 µg/L | 70.2 µg/L | 14 |
| HAA5 | 60 µg/L | 0 µg/L | 10.4 µg/L | 10.4 µg/L | 14 |
A yearly average of 0 means nothing was detected in that year's samples. EPA's file stops at 2019; Ohio EPA's Drinking Water Watch has newer results.
Source: EPA Six-Year Review 4 compliance monitoring data, 2012 to 2019, distribution-system samples (non-detects counted as zero).
Nitrate, arsenic and radioactivity
Nitrate: the highest of 8 samples was 0.32 mg/L (as nitrogen) in 2012; in 2019, the last year sampled, nitrate was not detected. No sample was over the limit of 10 mg/L. Nitrate above 10 is unsafe for infants.
Arsenic was not detected in 34 samples (limit 10 µg/L).
| Contaminant | Samples | Highest result | Limit | Samples over limit |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nitrate (as nitrogen) | 8 | 0.32 mg/L | 10 mg/L | 0 |
| Arsenic | 34 | not detected | 10 µg/L | 0 |
Measured in finished water: at the plant's entry points and in the distribution system; raw well and intake samples are left out. Non-detects count as zero.
Source: EPA Six-Year Review 4 compliance monitoring data, 2012 to 2019, finished water.
Solvents and fuels
EPA's file holds results for all six solvent and fuel compounds it checked. Benzene, carbon tetrachloride, 1,2-dichloroethane, trichloroethylene, tetrachloroethylene, and vinyl chloride were not detected in 2 samples each.
| Compound | Limit | Samples | Detected in | Highest result | Samples over limit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Benzene | 5 µg/L | 2 | 0 of 2 | not detected | 0 |
| Carbon tetrachloride | 5 µg/L | 2 | 0 of 2 | not detected | 0 |
| 1,2-dichloroethane | 5 µg/L | 2 | 0 of 2 | not detected | 0 |
| Trichloroethylene (TCE) | 5 µg/L | 2 | 0 of 2 | not detected | 0 |
| Tetrachloroethylene (PCE) | 5 µg/L | 2 | 0 of 2 | not detected | 0 |
| Vinyl chloride | 2 µg/L | 2 | 0 of 2 | not detected | 0 |
"Not detected" means the lab's result was below what its method can measure, not that the compound is absent. Non-detects count as zero in the highest-result column.
Source: EPA Six-Year Review 4 compliance monitoring data, 2012 to 2019, finished water.
Farm chemicals and metals
EPA's file holds results for 8 of the nine herbicides and metals it checked. Detected: barium in 2 of 2 samples, highest 189 µg/L (limit 2,000). Not detected: atrazine in 3 samples, alachlor in 3 samples, chromium in 2 samples, cadmium in 2 samples, mercury in 2 samples, selenium in 2 samples, thallium in 2 samples.
| Substance | Kind | Limit | Samples | Detected in | Highest result | Samples over limit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Atrazine | Farm chemical | 3 µg/L | 3 | 0 of 3 | not detected | 0 |
| Alachlor | Farm chemical | 2 µg/L | 3 | 0 of 3 | not detected | 0 |
| Chromium | Metal | 100 µg/L | 2 | 0 of 2 | not detected | 0 |
| Cadmium | Metal | 5 µg/L | 2 | 0 of 2 | not detected | 0 |
| Barium | Metal | 2,000 µg/L | 2 | 2 of 2 | 189 µg/L | 0 |
| Mercury | Metal | 2 µg/L | 2 | 0 of 2 | not detected | 0 |
| Selenium | Metal | 50 µg/L | 2 | 0 of 2 | not detected | 0 |
| Thallium | Metal | 2 µg/L | 2 | 0 of 2 | not detected | 0 |
Non-detects count as zero in the highest-result column.
Source: EPA Six-Year Review 4 compliance monitoring data, 2012 to 2019, finished water.
Bacteria in the pipes
From 2012 to 2019, 7 of 402 routine total coliform samples taken in the distribution system at Cedarville University tested positive (1.74%); in 2019, the last year on file, 0 of 48 did. E. coli was found in 1 of 228 samples tested for it.
A positive coliform test is a warning sign, not a violation by itself. E. coli is a sign that human or animal waste may have reached the water. Coliform counts are routine samples only; E. coli counts include repeat samples.
Source: EPA Six-Year Review 4 compliance monitoring data, 2012 to 2019, distribution-system presence/absence tests for total coliform and E. coli.
Fluoride
The Ohio Department of Health's report to the CDC (My Water's Fluoride) says Cedarville University has fluoride from natural sources, but at a level below what is recommended for preventing tooth decay, and does not adjust it. The level it reports is 0.34 mg/L.
EPA's treatment table lists no fluoridation step at Cedarville University.
Measured fluoride: 0.39 mg/L on average at the plant's entry points in 2017 (below the 0.7 mg/L target); samples ran from 0.27 to 0.39 mg/L across 2 samples in 2012 to 2019.
The recommended level for preventing tooth decay is 0.7 mg/L; the federal limit is 4 mg/L. The treatment list is what each system registered with EPA and can lag a plant upgrade.
Source: CDC My Water's Fluoride (fluoridation status as reported by the Ohio Department of Health, fetched September 2026); EPA Safe Drinking Water Information System (SDWIS) treatment table; EPA Six-Year Review 4 compliance monitoring data, 2012 to 2019, entry-point fluoride samples.
Lithium
Lithium was not detected in 2 UCMR 5 samples at Cedarville University, last sampled in 2025 (the method reports from 9 µg/L).
Lithium is not regulated. EPA's draft health reference level is 10 µg/L, and it occurs naturally in deep groundwater, so well systems in the northwest run highest.
Source: EPA UCMR 5 occurrence data (final release, August 2026), samples from 2023 to 2025.
How well the service area is mapped
EPA estimated the service area of Cedarville University with a computer model rather than drawing it from the utility's map, so its edges are approximate.
Counting the people who live in the ZIP codes it overlaps, this atlas estimates 3,508 residents are inside the boundary, 88% of the 4,000 people Cedarville University reports serving.
The resident count is an estimate from 2020 Census ZIP-code populations, not a count of customers.
Source: EPA Service Area Boundaries; resident estimate by this atlas from ZIP-code overlap.
Photograph
On the map
Show this system's territory on the map — 1 ZIP code in all.
Sources
U.S. EPA SDWIS and Community Water System Service Area Boundaries (v3, 2026), Ohio EPA primacy data, 2020 census blocks: the system serving most residents, traced through purchases to the treating utility; Ohio EPA 2023 Sewer and Water Rate Survey (Ohio State, May 2025) for household bills; Ohio EPA DEFA loan awards since 2016 for the loans paragraph · EPA SDWIS · EPA service area boundaries · Ohio EPA drinking water · Ohio EPA rate survey
EPA's own record for this system: Enforcement and Compliance History report for OH2903612 (EPA ECHO).
Notable facts: cuwebstoragelibrary.blob.core.windows.net, data.epa.gov
History: cuwebstoragelibrary.blob.core.windows.net, data.epa.gov, data.epa.gov
Water quality: cuwebstoragelibrary.blob.core.windows.net
Planned work: cuwebstoragelibrary.blob.core.windows.net
Water pressure: cuwebstoragelibrary.blob.core.windows.net, cedarville.edu
Capital projects: cuwebstoragelibrary.blob.core.windows.net, cedarville.edu
Rates: data.epa.gov, cedarville.edu
Sewers: echodata.epa.gov, data.epa.gov
Treatment: cuwebstoragelibrary.blob.core.windows.net, cedarville.edu, data.epa.gov
Supply stress: cuwebstoragelibrary.blob.core.windows.net
